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Sunday, September 13, 2015

Elimination round

Both John Loftus had Jeff Lowder have repeatedly challenged W. L. Craig to a public debate. Since they're both competing for his attention, perhaps they need to begin with an elimination round. The survivor can proceed to the next round.

There are many potentially interesting match-ups. Problem is, there's only one Craig and many aspirants. He can't debate them all. He can only debate a small fraction. And he's already 66, so the opportunities are rapidly diminishing. He has to be very finicky.

In fact, I expect some aspirants are getting desperate because they know time is running out.

He debates people who are either highly credentialed or very prominent. There's also a difference between who you debate when you are getting established, and who you debate after you are established. Once you have a reputation, you attract bigger fish.

6 comments:

He has stated publicly that he'll only debate those who hold a doctorate in a relevant field. He had a few bad experiences debating atheist popularizers only to be embarrassed by their inability to form/understand cogent or logical arguments.

I took a class at Biola that WLC taught a few years ago. One of my classmates asked Dr. Craig if he would debate James White. I distinctly remember him saying he would not debate another Christian. I don't know if he's changed.

With every new debate that John Loftus has he shows himself unworthy of debating Craig. John writes better than he debates. Craig will wipe the floor with Loftus. Craig knows it and Loftus probably does too. Why then would Loftus want to do it? For the sake of advertisement. More people will buy his books, be curious about atheism and visit his and other atheistic blogs/websites and convert to atheism. Craig also knows that that's a likely result of him debating Loftus, so Craig has no good reason to debate Loftus. That's why it'll never happen. Especially since Craig has said he will not debate former students. If I recall correctly, I think Craig has also said that he's concerned for Loftus' spiritual condition and that their debating would be bad for Loftus' spiritual condition. Both have publicly affirmed that they are friends. I think Craig also doesn't want to embarrass his friend in public by debating him and demolishing him. That's something which he would be forced to do if they debated. I can't see any circumstances in which they will ever debate.

Lowder would definitely be a greater challenge for Craig. Some atheists even claiming Craig is scared to debate Lowder. I wouldn't mind seeing a debate between the two of them. However, I think Craig has the advantage of having studied the relevant issues longer and deeper than Lowder. Craig has immersed himself in the topic for decades. Lowder has the advantage of knowing the arguments Craig will use and the fact that Craig doesn't know what arguments Lowder will use.

In the meantime, I content myself with the debates that Lowder sometimes does with Steve here on Triablogue.